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2006-11-19 02:18:50 · 6 answers · asked by lala 1 in Arts & Humanities Genealogy

6 answers

Start with yourself and work backwards. The rest of this is my standard answer.

I hope you'll accept a general answer. These questions come up every day:

Where can I find my family tree for free?
Does anyone know the {Surname} family?
What are good sites for ancestors / genealogy?

They are all about tracing your family tree on the Internet. The fourth time I typed in my favorite beginner's links I realized I should save them in a text file and paste them in. This is long and general. Because it is general, not all the links will apply to every question or questioner.

These may help get you started. They are large and free.

http://www.cyndislist.com/
(240,000+ links, all cross-indexed. If you want Welch or Pennsylvania Dutch or Oregon or any other region, ethnic group or surname, chances are she has links for it.)
http://www.familysearch.com
(Mormon's mega-site. Click on "Search")
http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi
(460,000,000+ entries, of varying quality)
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/default.aspx?ln=
Surname meanings and origins
http://www.tedpack.org/begingen.html
My own site: "How to Begin"

United States only:
http://www.usgenweb.net/
(Subdivided into state sites, which all have county sites.)
(The Canadians have Canadian Gen Web, by province)
http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi
(Social Security Death index - click on "Advanced" You may find your grandparents.)
http://find.person.superpages.com/
(US Phone book, for looking up distant cousins)


United Kingdom Only:
http://www.genuki.org.uk/
(Biggest site for United Kingdom & Ireland)
http://www.freebmd.org.uk/
(Free Birth, Marriage & Death Records)

(If you posted your question in Genealogy, ignore this paragraph. If you posted it in the "Family" category, read on.)
Tracing your family tree is called genealogy. YA has a category for genealogy,
Home > Arts & Humanities > Genealogy
There are hundreds of more links in the resolved answers there.


Notes:

You usually have to do some research. Sometimes you get lucky. Don't give up if your Great grandfather with your surname isn't there. Try all eight great-grandparents.

You won't find living people on any of the sites except the phone book one. You won't find many people born after 1920 on any of the sites except the SSDI one. Genealogists hide the birth dates, birth places and other facts of living people to protect their privacy. You will have to find your grandparents' or great grandparents' birth dates and maiden names somewhere besides the Internet.

The free sites are supported by advertising, just like TV. You can't watch the Super Bowl without seeing a beer commercial, and you can't surf for dead relatives without seeing an Ancestry advertisement. Many people complain about advertisements. Please don't. They bring you the "free" sites. There's no such thing as a free lunch.

If you get serious you'll need a genealogy program. They are to family research what "Word" is to writing a novel. I like Roots Magic. Family Tree Maker is the market leader. Both cost around $29. The Mormons will let you download PAF for free. It is clunky, but it is free. You can sometimes find old versions of FTM or Family Origins (FO is the predecessor of RM) in bargin bins at CostCo.

2006-11-19 02:33:53 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

Your local pulbic library will have a ton of stuff on this since it is a really popular topic. But in the mean time, go to this website and check on the right hand side, there is a way to start. My cynicism figures that once you get started they''ll find a way to ask you for money to continue, which is why I like the public library.

But give it a shot. It will get you going. OR in yahoo search box use genealogy as a key word and you'll get a number of hits to try.

2006-11-19 10:30:03 · answer #2 · answered by teritaur 5 · 0 0

http://download.familysearch.org/...

It's FREE

Also try Yahoo Groups/Genealogy

2006-11-20 06:32:40 · answer #3 · answered by D.A. S 5 · 0 0

i dont know what do you actually mean by that...but you can make one in a website, you can save it there, and the future generation of yours can visit the page anytime....it's www.myheritage.com...you can even put up real photos!

2006-11-19 10:29:23 · answer #4 · answered by hirzi 2 · 0 0

Google it and you will get lots of leads. THere are LOTS of sites out there that can help.

2006-11-19 21:09:01 · answer #5 · answered by Lil Cuddy 2 · 0 0

have children with someone your not related to

2006-11-19 10:24:55 · answer #6 · answered by Carguy 1 · 0 0

fedest.com, questions and answers